An Investigation on the Effect of Exercise on Insomnia Symptoms

BACKGROUND: Insomnia affects the daily activities of the sufferers and reduces attention and memory. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an expensive treatment and is not applicable to all patients, and long-term treatment with sleep medication can have side effects such as drug dependency. As an alternative form of non-pharmacological treatments, the effect of exercise therapy on improving the symptoms of insomnia is addressed in the current study. METHODS: A total of 32 patients diagnosed with insomnia participated in the study, from which 16 received combined resistance-aerobic exercise therapy. The rest of the patients comprised the control group. The intervention group went through a 12-week intervention in the form of aerobic exercise for 3 days a week and resistance training for another 3 days a week. Patients' sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh test before and after the intervention. RESULTS: The results showed that combined aerobic-resistance exercise can improve sleep quality in patients with insomnia as well as increase subjective sleep quality and actual sleep duration, and decrease daytime dysfunction due to sleeping problems. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, along with other insomnia treatments, exercise can improve the sleep quality of patients.